Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: October 21, 1956 In Gunsmoke #237, “Til Death Do Us,” a sanctimonious farmer, Jezreel Cobb, and his cowed wife, Minerva, drift into Dodge—and into danger. After shots are fired at their buggy, Matt Dillon follows a rumor to a braggart gunman who claims he was offered $300 to kill Cobb. When the gunman forces a showdown at the Long Branch, Matt drops him—bu...

Originally Aired: October 14, 1956 In Gunsmoke #236, “Gunshot Wound,” Jim Nielsen returns to Dodge with a bullet still lodged near his heart and revenge burning in his soul. After surviving a fight with the Mailer brothers two months prior, Nielsen learns his wound is fatal—and decides to take the men who shot him with him to the grave. Despite Marshal Matt Dillon’s efforts...

Originally Aired: October 7, 1956 In Gunsmoke #235, “The Gambler,” a refined riverboat gambler named Clint Ascom arrives in Dodge City with one mission: to find and kill a man he’s never met—Jim Cass. Marshal Matt Dillon intervenes, puzzled by the animosity toward the mild-mannered, gunless Cass. As the mystery unfolds, it’s revealed that a dark secret from Cass&rsquo...

Originally Aired: September 30, 1956 In Gunsmoke #234, “The Brothers,” the arrival of legendary lawman Leif Tugwell in Dodge stirs up tension, especially with a hot-headed young gunslinger, Trace Gore, eager to make a name by taking him down. Marshal Matt Dillon tries to keep the peace, unaware that Tugwell is hiding a debilitating illness that has ended his days as a gunfighter. As pr...

Originally Aired: September 23, 1956 In Gunsmoke #233, “Box o’ Rocks,” a humble old prospector named Packy Roundtree is supposedly laid to rest—until Marshal Matt Dillon pries open the coffin and finds only rocks. As it turns out, Packy faked his death to escape the brutal Jeb Cruder, a sadistic bully with a grudge and an eye on Packy’s secret silver strike. When Crud...

Originally Aired: September 16, 1956 In Gunsmoke #232, “Thick 'n Thin,” long-time partners Odie Perkins and Brace McCoy are at war—over sour grits. What starts as a spat over cooking spirals into a full-blown feud, with bullets flying between barn and house on their shared homestead. Marshal Matt Dillon steps in to restore order, but it’ll take more than jail time and lectu...

Originally Aired: September 9, 1956 In Gunsmoke #231, “Belle’s Back,” Belle Ainsley returns to Dodge after three years away—and immediately stirs up old memories, deeper secrets, and dangerous consequences. She claims she was abducted by the outlaw Jess Crider and forced to flee, but her younger sister Phyllis isn’t buying it. When Phyllis vanishes, Marshal Matt Dillo...

Originally Aired: September 2, 1956 In Gunsmoke #230, “Old Pal,” Marshal Matt Dillon is stunned when fresh clues suggest that his close friend Jim Rankin—believed murdered during a robbery in El Paso—may actually be alive and involved in the very crime that supposedly killed him. As Dillon follows the trail, he uncovers a tangled web involving stolen banknotes, a calculatin...

Originally Aired: August 26, 1956 In Gunsmoke #229, “No Sale,” Kitty and Sam are offered a suspiciously high price for the Long Branch Saloon by two strangers—Brice and Temple. When Kitty declines, threats begin to fly, and it becomes clear the buyers have a deadly backup plan: kill Sam if Kitty won’t sign. With Marshal Dillon on alert and a surprise arrival from Abilene ga...

Originally Aired: August 19, 1956 In Gunsmoke #228, “Annie Oakley,” a bitter love triangle erupts into murder on the plains near Dodge. When Kate Kinsman’s husband is shot dead with a Sharps rifle, all signs point to Ed Dolliver, the man she accused of pursuing her. But Marshal Dillon isn’t convinced by appearances—or by Kate’s tearful accusations. As a trap is...

Originally Aired: August 12, 1956 In Gunsmoke #227, “Snakebite,” an old drifter named Pony Thompson rides into Dodge for his annual drink—only to have his dog shot in cold blood by a cruel stranger. When the shooter turns up murdered, suspicion falls on Pony. But as Marshal Dillon digs deeper, he uncovers a darker betrayal: a partner’s treachery, a lie about guilt, and a ma...

Originally Aired: August 5, 1956 In Gunsmoke #226, “Sweet and Sour,” Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester return from Wichita only to cross paths with Rena Decker, a seemingly innocent young woman with a dangerous gift for stirring men into violence. After saving her from a drunken brute at the train station, Matt brings her to Dodge, where she quickly charms everyone—except Kitty, wh...

Originally Aired: October 31, 1953 In Gunsmoke #080, “How to Kill a Woman,” Marshal Matt Dillon investigates a series of brutal stagecoach attacks where robbery turns to senseless murder. As suspicion circles a stoic station master and a cold-blooded drifter named Nat Pilcher, Dillon uncovers a haunting backstory of betrayal, obsession, and a killing done in the name of pride. When a w...

In Gunsmoke #135, “Wrong Man,” homesteader Sam Rickers rides into Dodge with what he claims is the body of outlaw Bob Hobart—gunning for a $1,000 reward. But Marshal Dillon quickly realizes the corpse isn’t Hobart at all, but an innocent man, Jake Haney, mistaken for an outlaw. When Jake’s grieving partner arrives in town demanding justice, Sam’s lies deepen, le...

In Gunsmoke #076, “How to Kill a Friend,” two crooked gamblers—Ben Corder and Harry Duggan—try to buy Marshal Matt Dillon’s favor, then send a rifle shot through his office window when he won’t bend. Run out of Dodge, they slink back with hired gun Tolk Marlin—an old trail partner of Matt’s, twisted by a past mob beating in Silver City. Tolk gives Ma...

In Gunsmoke #042, “Cain,” a quiet musician named Cain Vestal arrives in Dodge on his way to Arizona to die—but when he sees a face from the past, his plans change. Years of sorrow and betrayal boil to the surface as Cain prepares to settle an old score with powerful landowner Joel Adams, a man who once destroyed the life of the woman Cain loved. Despite Marshal Dillon’s war...

Originally Aired: August 16, 1952 In Gunsmoke #017, “The Lynching,” Marshal Matt Dillon confronts the raw violence of frontier justice when a mob takes the law into its own hands. After the murder of Job Powell, a young drifter named Billy Saxton is accused and lynched without a trial. Dillon must untangle a web of guilt, silence, and manipulation—exposing the real killer and cha...

Originally Aired: July 29, 1956 In Gunsmoke #225, “Lost Rifle,” a man is shot dead while fishing, and Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself under pressure to arrest Ben Tipple—a hot-tempered man with motive, but no evidence against him. As Dodge buzzes with speculation, the truth lies in the hands of a scared young boy, Andy Spangler, who knows more than he’s letting on. When j...

Originally Aired: July 22, 1956 In Gunsmoke #224, “Lynching Man,” Marshal Matt Dillon investigates the hanging of a newcomer named Hank Blennis, apparently lynched for horse theft. But what begins as a search for justice soon uncovers a tangle of revenge and misplaced hatred. A man named Charlie Drain, still haunted by his father’s wrongful lynching, becomes obsessed with punishi...

Originally Aired: July 15, 1956   In Gunsmoke #223, “Letter of the Law,” Marshal Matt Dillon is ordered to evict Brandon Teak from his homestead for a bureaucratic oversight—his failure to register the deed. Once a notorious gunslinger, Teak has traded violence for a quiet life with his pregnant wife, Sarah. But the law, pushed by land baron Lee Sprague and upheld by a rigid...

Originally Aired: July 8, 1956 In Gunsmoke #222, “Passive Resistance,” Dodge City is divided when Gideon Seek, a gentle, gunless sheep herder, becomes the target of cattlemen determined to drive him out by violence. Refusing to fight back or even name his attackers, Gideon stands by his pacifist beliefs—even as his sheep are slaughtered, his home is burned, and his own life is pu...

Originally Aired: July 1, 1956 In Gunsmoke #221, “Gun for Chester,” Chester Proudfoot is haunted by the arrival of Ace Ledbetter, a man from his mysterious past in South Texas. Convinced Ledbetter has come to Dodge to kill him, Chester grows increasingly desperate, even as Matt Dillon struggles to separate paranoia from real danger. When a violent showdown finally erupts in the Marshal...

Originally Aired: June 24, 1956 In Gunsmoke #220, “Sunday Supplement,” two writers from New York arrive in Dodge City, searching for thrilling stories of the untamed West. Disappointed by the relative calm, they stir up trouble by stealing a sacred Pawnee totem from a burial ground—an act that drives the peaceful Chief Little Hawk to violence. As the cavalry reels from deadly att...

Originally Aired: June 17, 1956 In Gunsmoke #219, “Cheap Labor,” Dodge City witnesses a quiet, powerful drama when gentle giant Foss Capper befriends Carrie Stansel, a hardworking woman held back by her controlling brother Ben. As Foss and Carrie dream of a life together, Ben’s jealousy explodes—leading to violence, threats, and a town forced to choose sides. When Ben bruta...

Originally Aired: June 10, 1956 In Gunsmoke #218, “Daddy-O,” Kitty Russell’s long-lost father—charming, stylish, and mysterious—arrives in Dodge City for a reunion decades in the making. Soon swept up in a flurry of new business and old dreams, Kitty finds herself torn between loyalty and suspicion as her father pushes her to sell her share of the Long Branch and join...